Sunday Knitting

It took longer than I thought but I finally finished. It'll be blocked this week and then the ends need to be tackled. There are quite a few.

Pattern: Building Blocks (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 4 skeins of tosh merino light

The cast off isn't a regular cast off but the I-Cord Bind Off.

BO all sts using an I-cord BO as follows, *k2, k2tog tbl, slip 3 sts onto left needle, repeat from * until all sts are bound off.

There were 568 stitches on my needle. It takes a really, really long time to I-Cord Bind Off that many stitches.

I pulled out The Endless Wrap to work on this evening. I'm at the halfway point.

Pattern: Endless Wrap (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok

A shipment is on the way from Blue Sky and we'll have all colours back in stock.

 

There are new colours of Lang sock yarn in the store. 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. We have used this yarn for many pairs of socks and don't look after them. They go in the washing machine and in the dryer. The interesting thing about Lang Self-Striping yarns is that they include heel re-inforcement yarn to strengthen the heels and toes which will lengthen the life of your sock.

We are well stocked in Magic Tweed from Lang.

Beautiful soft tweed superwash yarn. 62% Virgin Wool Superwash, 18% Nylon, 10% Viscose, 10% Acrylic.

Perfect for the person in your life who doesn't want wild socks.

Knitters' Fair

I'm so close. We were watching The Good Wife on Saturday evening and I got to the cast off row. I thought that late on a Saturday night wasn't a good time to cast off over 500 stitches. They have to be even and not too tight. A clear head was necessary.

I went back to my Endless Wrap. I just finished the fifth skein, four to go. I got so into it yesterday that I didn't cast off the other shawl.

Ms. Lucy loves it when Beth puts the hose on. She tries to bite the water and they make a game of it. Then they go inside and snuggle while Beth rubs her dry. Beth send this picture with the caption

We had fun splash time with the hose. She looks huge in this picture!

I'm stuck in the house this morning (they are sealing the driveway and front steps) so I'm getting working on the Knitters' Fair.

Here are some of my tips if this is your first time heading to the show.

- trust me, there is lots of yarn. If you don't like lines or crowds, wait until noon to come. There will still be lots for you to see. If booths sell out of something, most are more than willing to ship it to you after the show
- bring lunch with you. Then you don't have to stand in line.
- wear something that you have knit. It's always fun to see completed projects.
- if you see something you like, mark down the booth you saw it in. I can't tell you how many times we get frantic people at the end of the day because they forgot where they saw something
- go through your Ravelry library and make notes of yarn that you are interested in. If there is a certain pattern, print that pattern and bring it with you. Also bring information on the yarn. What it's made of. Tension. Yardage. That will make it easier for me and other booths to help you substitute. When you come in the store I can do it on the computer but we have limited Internet access at the show.
- please have patience.
- the Fair isn't just for knitters. It is put on by a knitting guild - hence the name. Crocheters please come to the show. There is lots of fabulous yarns that you and your hooks will have fun working with.

Eccentric Chevron Wrap

Here is my Olympic knitting so far. If I wanted to 'cheat' I could cast off right now and say that I finished during the Olympics. I can't do that though. I still have yarn and I don't waste yarn. I have to accept defeat and say that I didn't finish. It's the first time ever and I'm sad.

This afternoon I had equipment failure. My needle broke where the tip and cord join. I had too many stitches on the needle - I should have been working with a longer cord. It doesn't help that I jam my knitting into the bag and I'm not gentle with it. I got all the stitches picked up and went on a search for a 4mm needle. I found a 150cm cord (what I should have been using from the start) and 4mm tips. I was on my way. For 2 and a half rows before I realized that the stitches felt loose. I didn't start on a 4mm needle. It was a 3.75mm. I had to do another search and found the right tips and I'm back on my way. The shawl is in garter stitch and no one will see the few rows that were on the wrong needle.

We have another new sample in the store.

Pattern: Endless Wrap (you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or in the store)
Yarn: 9 skeins of Woolstok from Blue Sky Fibers

Wrap yourself in yards of cozy Woolstok. Fun to knit, fun to wear, the Endless Wrap is a long swath of lofty, textural knitted fabric. Panels of knit/purl and yarn over patterns make this a good next step project for a beginner knitter.

I took my friend outside three different times to get pictures and every time the shawl looks a bit too orange.

The true colour is 1311 Rusted Roof.

It's almost time for the Closing Ceremonies and I'm heading back to my knitting. I hope to have the shawl finished this week so that I can get back to a few other projects. I have a long list of things to complete before the Knitters' Fair.

First Trip to the Yarn Store

My Endless Wrap is growing. Four skeins knit. Five to go. I'm loving the yarn more and more as I work with it.

Cathy was coming into town this morning so dad brought Lucy over for the two to meet. It was Lucy's first visit to the store. Yarn is very appealing to a puppy.

Yup. A nice skein from Zen Yarn Garden.

And then she lies down and you think she's an angel.

All Nighter

The ends are sewn in. Now I need to block it.
Pattern: Annisa Wrap (purchased on Ravelry)
Yarn: 3 skeins of Mrs. Crosby Train Case
I knit the shawl on a 4mm needle.

Last night Beth and I watched an episode of The Good Wife and then I was going to bed. But my knitting was growing and I was in a groove. Two more episodes and then I called it quits. I wanted to keep going but knew that I had to work today. When I was younger there were many Friday nights that I knit from when I closed the store until I opened on Saturday morning. When you're feeling it you don't want to stop.

Dad brought me lunch today and someone came along for the ride. She loves going for rides.

She's back at home with Beth and the boys. They are Lucy sitting while mom and dad go to a wedding. She looks huge in this picture. 

It's quiet at home so I'm going to sit with a tea and do a few more rows on my wrap.

Unique Heels

I was so happy to find my flowers finally blooming this morning. There are a few left that the deer didn't get.

Pattern: Smooth Operator Socks (purchased on Ravelry)

From the designer, Susan B. Anderson

I love knitting top-down socks and I love self-striping and patterning sock yarn. I also love it when the patterning in the yarn doesn’t get broken up or rearranged on the front of the sock. This often happens when you are knitting the heel section of the sock. To avoid this problem I started exploring the afterthought heel, where the heel stitches are placed on waste yarn and saved for later. With a little variation of my own, I’ve found that this heel is a clever and perfect solution for your striping sock yarn woes.

What’s different about the Smooth Operator Socks you might ask? The pattern is written for four different sizes and includes instructions for both double-pointed needles and Magic Loop. The tutorial pattern is written in conversational style with tips and tricks along the way. The pattern includes step-by-step tutorials with photos but also has a quick read version at the end for those who don’t need the tutorial or want to have a printed version. The quick version is 3-pages long without photos.

I have a modified twist for placing the heel waste yarn that makes it much easier to remove later. Also, I’ve never loved the look of the bars of stitches in between the decreases that run along both sides of the heel and toe. I’ve found a sleeker decrease sequence to eliminate those bars so the sock looks almost completely seamless and so smooth. I like to complete the afterthought heel before the foot of the sock is finished so taking accurate measurements for the foot length is much easier.

I hope you enjoy knitting the Smooth Operator Socks as much as I do. This is now my go-to sock for self-striping or patterning yarn although it will work for variegated, solid or tonal yarns just as well. Best of all, the fit is perfect!

I saw these socks on Ravelry and sent a message to Susan right away asking if I could use her pictures in a blog post. Her technique looks intriguing. 

 

I should have been putting yarn away today. I should have updated the website. I should have swept the floor. I didn't do any of these. I knit instead.

Great Stitch Definition

I was looking at Rowan's website and they have a very pretty new pattern. It is a paid download that isn't available on Ravelry yet. You can purchase through Rowan's website - I went through the steps and it was painless.

Purchase Tottori...

This deep V neck cardigan is now available as a paid pattern download. Designed by Sarah Hatton it has short row shaping and lace patterning at the hem making it suitable for the knitter with some experience.

Yarn Information
Tetra Cotton 50g
 
Sizes Available
32-34 to 48-50 "

Balls needed
6 to 9

Finished Width Dimension
42.5 [48:54:60:67]cm/161/2 [19:211/2:231/2:261/2]in

Needle Size
3.25mm, 4mm and 4.5mm needles

This is knit out of Tetra cotton which has been discontinued but we have lots of stock and it's on sale for 20% off.

My shawl is growing and I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the yarn. A customer looked at it today and commented on how good the stitch definition is. I'll get some more rows finished tonight - Master Chef and Big Brother are taping.